Those Britons now attempting to ban Steve Bannon from the United Kingdom are idiots. No liberal value is served by attempting to deny entry to the former Trump administration official and Breitbart editor.
The idiots see things differently. Their petition claims that “Steve Bannon is a far-right political figure who poses a direct risk to the security of the U.K. He should not be allowed to enter the U.K. to spread messages of hate.”
Give me a break.
First off, how on Earth can Bannon be described as a “direct risk to the security of the U.K.”? While Bannon is notorious for his skepticism of immigration, free trade, and other values that might be described as liberal, he is not some fanatic who will run around Britain causing mayhem. On the contrary, Bannon lives for the debate. For the vigorous exchange of viewpoints in pursuit of changes to policy. Values, I would argue, which sit directly in the finest tradition of British free speech.
Still, the truest measure of why this petition is so stupid is its self-defeating arrogance.
Put simply, trying to ban Bannon from the U.K. is the best possible advertisement for Bannon. Remember, the central Bannon message is his claim that they are ignoring those who oppose immigration and seek a homogeneous national identity. But Bannon and his compatriots also love to present themselves as victims of a conspiracy to silence them. Or put another way, exactly what this petition would purvey!
Yet, this petition doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Just last week, European Union officials outlined their own desire to see Bannon restricted in his activities on the continent. It’s understandable, of course, why the EU hates Bannon. After all, his interest in going to Britain is to set up a new think tank to challenge the EU’s political power. Yet, just as the petition agitators will only serve to strengthen Bannon’s narrative, so does the EU’s anger achieve the same.
In both cases, we’re seeing a pathetic attempt to silent divergent discourse. And in both cases the authoritarian agitators will achieve the opposite of that which they intend.
Bannon must be smiling.
